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“Yeah, the younger Grimes brother is no criminal mastermind. He confessed that they put it up because one of thegirls had a cell phone they didn’t see but caught her trying to call someone, but also to mess with drones or things flying overhead because one of the reasons their electric bill was so high, is because they were cooking meth in the back of the barn. That’s where he went that night, to sell their stash to have money to keep kidnapping and drugging girls,” Luke said and the stench from the van made sense with all of the chemicals needed to cook meth.
“Since this is pretty much wrapped up now, we’re heading back to D.C. but thought we’d see if you wanted to grab dinner before we go. We’ll forgive you for not making it since you’re a newlywed though,” Melissa added and she smiled entirely as they hung up, comfort washing through her knowing other than Dynamite, there was nothing else she had to worry about now.
And on top of that she had Tyler and a delicious lunch to enjoy. Nothing could be better than that right this moment.
Chapter 13
The bar was crowded as Tyler slipped through it to get to Justine. They’d been home for a month now, and he’d been busy with work during the day, making him miss her immensely. So much so that he called her earlier to suggest they go out tonight so they wouldn’t have to spend time cooking, simply spend the wait for their food together, as well as avoiding any rogue family member that worked up the courage to come by to harass them.
He slipped up behind her, hearing the idiot from school hitting on her, and his arms wrapped around her as he leaned down, dropping a kiss onto her lips pulling a loud ‘what?’ from Zack.
“Hey babydoll, sorry I was late,” he said pulling a grin from her as he turned a glare Zack’s way.
“What the hell? Weren’t the two of you just fighting at the reunion?” he questioned, and Justine let out a soft laugh, slipping off the stool to head to a table with him.
“We like to think of it more as verbal foreplay than fighting,” Tyler responded sending his eyes even wider. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, I’m going to go enjoy dinner with mywife.”
“The fuck?” Zack uttered behind them as they slid over to the waiting hostess.
He pulled out the chair, settling her into it before taking the spot next to her instead of on the opposite side, accepting the menu from the hostess with a nod of thanks. When they were alone, he leaned in, stealing Justine’s lips in a longer kiss, that ended with a soft sigh falling from her as he brushed her hair out of her face, smiling at the look in her eyes. “You look happy.”
“I am. I’m here, in public, with you without having to act like I don’t know or like you. I can sit with you. You can hold me and kiss me, and it won’t cause this huge bombshell to drop over all of us. Yes, our families are still being stupid, but I’m with you and so happy. My arm is healed, so no more cast. The doctor confirmed that my kidney’s working just fine. And…I had my IUD removed,” she added making his breathing tighten as his eyes glazed over a hint.
“You did?” he asked, and she nodded in return. He couldn’t resist giving her another kiss that was finally interrupted by a waitress coming to get their order. Justine’s eyes barely skimmed the menu, rattling off a quick choice while he went with his normal, his attention barely straying to the girl as he spoke before returning it to Justine, just watching her exist in this moment with him.
While he was eager to get home, have her wrapped around him again, he wanted to linger a bit longer soaking all of this up with her. He pulled her up from her chair gently when they finished their food, taking her into the bar side of the place and out onto the dance floor there. The song might be up-tempo, but he needed her in his arms completely. Her arm slipped around his neck, a huge smile on her lips as they swayed to the beat, his hips brushing against hers with every move, enjoying every second of it.
A slow song came on and he lowered his head down, resting it against hers, his lips pressing soft pecks against her temple as he held her close, getting lost in it until much later in theevening. He stopped at her new car on the way out, making sure she didn’t need anything out of it, before taking them home and straight to bed, keeping her there until much later Saturday afternoon.
Justine gave a little wave pulling his attention towards the side of the house, finding the twins heading for her, giving her hugs before they bothered with him, and he chuckled because he’d basically been replaced as their favorite sibling. He didn’t mind at all though. Loved that his sisters, well the twins at least, fully accepted Justine in his life. Caroline was being her normal brat self, and he refused to hear anything negative about his girl.
“What are you all doing over here? I thought Dad had banned you from coming to my house now,” he said, glad he’d put more burgers and hot dogs on the grill than what they’d need if they were going to stay to eat.
“He doesn’t know we’re here. We said we were meeting Kylie in town, and we are, just later,” Hailey said giving them a grin. “We haven’t seen you all in over a week and wanted some quality time with our favoritemarriedcouple.”
“Seriously, how many times are you going to say married in that tone before you forgive us for not letting you know or come to the wedding?” Tyler asked his sister as he slipped onto the porch swing with Justine.
“Until it doesn’t elicit guilt in you most likely,” Isabelle answered for her. “So how was dinner last night?”
“Why are you asking about dinner last night for?” he questioned glancing at Justine for help, but she shook her head just as confused as he was about it.
“Because we got like a dozen messages from classmates asking if our big brother was dating someone new already,” Isabelle told them.
“And since half of them have crushes on you they hoped that with you and Angela breaking up it’d give them a shotbecause there was no way you’d start dating and get serious about someone else before we all turn eighteen,” Hailey tacked on and the look that crossed Tyler’s face made Justine peal with laughter.
“So you only like one girl that looks young, that’s good,” Isabelle teased him pulling a grumble from his throat.
“We’re just teasing,” Hailey assured him. “Justine might look younger than she is, but you know the truth and since you were sleeping with her when youbothwere that age, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like you looked at any of our friends as more than nuisances most of the time, and when you were actually looking at them, it was always obvious you had no interest in any of them.”
“Not even Nora and her…ample assets,” Isabelle snuck in making Tyler simply grimace again and Justine pressed against his side, brushing a kiss to his lips to calm him.
“Okay girls, you can stop making your brother uncomfortable now,” she said, and they calmed down, letting them all enjoy the time together while Tyler finished the food on the grill.
Justine stretched as she stood to make her way into the house to get the rest of the meal and Hailey’s eyes narrowed her way a bit.
“What happened there?” Hailey asked her and Justine pulled her shirt down covering the thin remnants of the scar from her donation surgery.
“Just an old accident,” she lied, giving Tyler a kiss as he sat the steaming plate of meat onto the table on the covered porch that extended a good twenty feet beyond the house. She came back with the cold items, grinning when the twins went in and grabbed plates and glasses letting her get the rest of the food laid out for them to enjoy.
